Semi Pearl
}} The Semi Pearl is a 4.5×6cm folder, released by Konishiroku (the later Konica) in 1938, and succeeded in 1949 by the Pearl (I). The name "Pearl" was used by Konishiroku for many other models of rollfilm folders. Other articles deal with the early Pearl for plates and rollfilm, the Pearl No.2, the self-erecting 6×9 Pearl, the postwar Pearl (I), II and III and Pearl IV, and the Baby Pearl and Pearlette cameras. Description The Semi Pearl is a vertical folder much inspired by the Ikonta A. The three-part folding struts are curved and are engraved with Konishiroku's logo: a five-petal cherry blossom containing the Japanese character 六 (the roku within both "Rokuoh-sha" and "Konishiroku"). The metal parts are chrome plated. The body edges are silver painted on the early examples and black lacquered on later cameras (see below). The name SEMI PEARL is embossed in the leather covering at the front. There is a folding optical finder at the top, as seen by the photographer holding the camera horizontally. Its rear part is chrome plated and its front part is black. The folding bed release is on the right, easily mistaken for the shutter release; it simultaneously opens the finder. The actual shutter release is on the front door, close to the hinge, and is tripped by the photographer's left hand — a position which was perhaps inspired by Voigtländer's Bessa. The back is hinged to the left for film loading, and the latch on the right is covered by a short handle. The film is advanced by a key at the bottom right, and its position is manually controlled via red windows. Most examples have unit-focusing: the lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a focusing helix driven by a small tab running on a distance scale engraved in metres or feet. A few cameras have front-cell focusing instead, presumably because of a shortage of parts (see below). The shutter of the Semi Pearl is either an Apus (10–100, B, T) or a Durax (1–100, B, T). Both were made by Rokuoh-sha, later Konishiroku. Both have a cocking lever, and none has flash synchronization (on some examples, this feature was added as an aftermarket conversion). The Semi Pearl normally have an Optor 7.5cm f/4.5 three-element lens or a Hexar 7.5cm f/4.5 four-element lens, but a few have a Hexar Ser.II 7.5cm f/3.8, surely not an original version (see below). The Optor was reputedly manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku (predecessor of Pentax) under license from Konishiroku, but its production was perhaps taken back by Konishiroku at some time. Optor manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku: Sakai, p.12 of no.10, Lewis, p.182, R. Konishi website http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/hexar0.htm. The lens is registered as made by Konishiroku in the , lens items Jc15 and Ld1 (for the Baby Pearl and Pearlette). Evolution Original silver model The Semi Pearl was released at the beginning of 1938: it was advertised in from January 1938, and was featured in the new products column of the February 1938 issue of the same magazine. , p.338. (Lewis, p.54, says 1937.) A number of advertisements dated 1938 and 1939 show the silver finish, which surely corresponds to the early cameras. Advertisements in the June 1938 and January 1939 issues of and in the August and December 1938 issues of Kogata Camera, reproduced in , p.82. They list two versions of the camera: one has the Optor 7.5cm f/4.5 lens and Apus shutter (10–100, B, T) and is priced at , and the other has the Hexar 7.5cm f/4.5 lens and Durax shutter (1–100, B, T) and is priced at . Examples of the silver Semi Pearl are known with the two advertised combinations: Apus and Optor or Durax and Hexar Ser.1. Apus and Optor: examples pictured in Tanaka, p.60 of no.8 and p.44 of no.10, in Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4, in Neco's camera collection http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j123.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j123a.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j123b.html, and observed in online auctions. — Durax and Hexar Ser.1: examples pictured in , item 1155, in Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4, in Neco's camera collection http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j121.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j121a.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j121b.html, and observed in online auctions. The back has two red windows, placed towards the top and protected by a common slider, a configuration similar to that of contemporary Pearl (6×9cm), Baby Pearl or Luxury Pearlette. The Durax or Apus have the first shutter plate design, marked Rokuoh-sha under the lens. The shutter name is inscribed on a plate attached at the top by two screws, and the aperture scale is engraved on another separate plate at the bottom. The lens is marked Rokuoh-sha too, and usually has a chrome bezel. (The focal length is usually engraved as 7.5cm, but extremely early Optor lenses have 75m.m instead.) 75m.m: examples pictured in Hagiya, p.60 of no.8, and in Tanaka, p.44 of no.10. The name SEMI PEARL embossed in the front leather has a rectangular frame. It seems that the earliest examples have a small focusing tab (visible in the advertisements cited above); it was soon replaced by a larger part. Small focusing tab: examples pictured in Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4, in Hagiya, p.60 of no.8, in Tanaka, p.44 of no.10, and observed in online auctions. The Semi Pearl appears in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, in two versions called "Semi Pearl I" (¥80) and "Semi Pearl II" (¥121), certainly corresponding to the Optor and Hexar versions. , type 3, sections 3B and 6B. The same versions appear again in a similar price list dated November 1941. , type 3, sections 3B and 6B. These lists are not illustrated, and it is not known if the cameras sold at the time still had the silver finish. Late wartime and early postwar period Conflicting theories Observation of surviving examples gives a precise view of the minor changes which occurred on the Semi Pearl during the late wartime and early postwar years. However accurate dating remains problematic, because of the lack of illustrated documents for the period. Precise dating much depends on whether the MADE IN JAPAN marking found on some cameras is considered typical of the postwar era or not. Such indication of origin in English language seems unlikely on a Japanese wartime product. However accepting all the "Made in Japan" cameras as postwar would mean that the markings were switched from "Rokuoh-sha" to "Konishiroku" only after 1945, and that the black wartime examples were extremely few. This would contradict the accounts given by a few recent Japanese sources, , item 1157, Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4, Omoide no supuringu-ten, p.18. but similar conclusions are found in articles by Tanaka, who thoroughly studied Konishiroku models in issues of . On p.60 of no.8, Tanaka says that the examples made after 1945 differ by their black finish. On p.44 of no.10, he is less affirmative and says that the black finish is found on postwar and late wartime examples. Further observation should help to settle these questions. Black finish The silver paint on the body edges was replaced by black lacquer at some time, perhaps during the early 1940s. The lens bezel of the Hexar and Optor lenses became black at about the same time, or slightly earlier. One isolated example, observed in an online auction, is known with silver finish and a black bezel. The only example confirmed so far of the Rokuoh-sha Optor with black bezel is pictured in , item 1156. These early black Semi Pearl still have the Rokuoh-sha markings on the lens and shutter, and have no other change. They are known with the Apus and Optor or Durax and Hexar Ser.1 combinations. Apus and Optor: example pictured in , item 1156 (where it is wrongly dated 1938), and example observed in an online auction. — Durax and Hexar Ser.1: examples observed in online auctions. Two of these (with Durax and Hexar Ser.1) have been observed with the words ROKUOH–SHA and MADE IN JAPAN embossed on the back leather. This might indicate a postwar origin, but this is unsure (see the discussion above). First Konishiroku markings The Konishiroku company was reorganized in April 1943 as Konishiroku Shashin Kōgyō K.K., and its retail and wholesale activities were stopped (see Konica). The production of civilian cameras was perhaps brought to a halt at about the same time. The last wartime document mentioning the Semi Pearl is the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production (showing the new company name Konishiroku Shashin Kōgyō), where it is listed with the Hexar lens only. , item 67. The Rokuoh-sha markings were gradually replaced by KONISHIROKU equivalents after that date. , item 1157, and Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.18, say that the marking was changed when the company became Konishiroku Shashin Kōgyō in 1943. Miyazaki, p.13, about the Baby Pearl, only says that the "Rokuoh-sha" marking became "Konishiroku" on postwar examples because of the change in the company name in 1943. However, given the circumstances of the time, the change was probably not applied instantaneously. The earliest KONISHIROKU marking known so far is on the back covering of a camera with Rokuoh-sha Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens no.23051 and Rokuoh-sha Durax shutter — it is embossed in large letters, together with the words MADE IN JAPAN. Example observed in an online auction. Again, this might indicate that the camera was assembled after 1945; this would suggest that Konishiroku markings only appeared after that date, and that all the wartime cameras were marked Rokuoh-sha only, but nothing is clearly known yet. The adoption of the Konishiroku marking on the shutter brought the second shutter plate design (see picture below), with different metal stripes on the sides of the lens, of markedly unequal length. Examples with the second shutter plate design pictured in Yamawaki, pp.109–10 of no.4 (one of these has front-cell focusing), in Neco's camera collection http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j1220.html, and observed in online auctions (one of these has a Rokuoh-sha lens marking). The main plate was used for both the Durax and Apus, and the shutter name was added on a separate plate screwed to the top. A single Apus shutter is known so far with a Konishiroku marking; it is mounted on an example with front-cell focusing (see below) and still has the old type of aperture scale. Example pictured in , p.545. On the Durax shutter, the aperture scale screwed to the bottom has a new shape with square ends, looking more modern. It is not known if this second shutter plate design was introduced before or after 1945. At about the same time, the Rokuoh-sha marking on the Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens was replaced by a Konishiroku marking. The serial number of the Hexar Ser.1 was perhaps simultaneously reset to 30000. There is a gap between Rokuoh-sha lens no.23051 and Konishiroku lens no.30906, observed in online auctions. These lenses might be the first produced after the war, but this point is again obscure. The picture on the left shows a Semi Pearl made during that period, with the second shutter plate design and a Konishiroku Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens. Picture from December 1949, p.37. The picture was certainly taken by Konishiroku's commercial department. It also appears in Akiyama, p.10 of Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata, published in August 1948. The picture was already outdated by the time, and the same book has pictures of later versions of the Semi Pearl. A similar example with Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5 lens no.33949 is the earliest known camera with a distance scale in feet, a feature which surely appeared only after 1945, when the US soldiers stationed in Japan were the main customers. Example observed in an online auction. Production resumed The production of the Semi Pearl was resumed almost immediately after the war's end, perhaps as soon as October 1945. Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4, specifies October. Tanaka, p.60 of no.8, says 1945, quoting the company history Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen. Lewis, p.60, says 1945 too. It was at first drawing on stocks of older parts. However the dies and leftover parts found at the factory came in odd sets: for example the number of front and rear lens elements was not matching. Company history Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen, quoted in Tanaka, p.60 of no.8. At the very beginning, the monthly production rate was very low, about 10 or 20. Various sources say that the camera was released to the public in April 1946, in all four possible combinations of the Apus or Durax shutters and Optor or Hexar lenses. Miyazaki, p.183, Yamawaki, pp.109–10 of no.4, table on p.78 of no.10. The release prices are reported as ¥1,893 (Apus, Optor), ¥1,983 (Durax, Optor), ¥2,100 (Apus, Hexar) and ¥2,400 or ¥2,410 (Durax, Hexar). Tables in Yamawaki, p.109 of no.4 (says ¥2,410), and on p.78 of no.10 (says ¥2,400). The list of controlled prices set on 17 June 1946 by the Japanese Ministry of Finance mentions the following versions: See full reference in the page on Japanese prices. Lewis, p.60, says ¥3,050 for an unspecified variant of the Semi Pearl B, but this is probably a mistake. * Semi Pearl B, Apus, Hexar, at ¥2,050; * Semi Pearl B, Durax, Hexar, at ¥2,100; * Semi Pearl A, Durax, Hexar, helicoid focusing, at ¥2,600. The versions called "Semi Pearl B" presumably have a front-cell focusing lens (see below). Advertisements were placed in Japanese magazines from October 1946; , p.358. it is not known if they mention a model name. Front-cell focusing cameras, or Semi Pearl B The earliest cameras assembled after 1945 were perhaps indistinguishable from the late wartime production, except maybe for the MADE IN JAPAN embossing mentioned above. The replacement of the focusing helical by front-cell focusing was surely caused by a shortage of parts. Tanaka, p.110 of no.4, and , item 1384, imply that the front-cell focusing lenses were the first produced after 1945. Miyazaki, p.13, only says that "there were some cameras with front-cell focusing, reflecting the difficult times". The times were tough, and the wartime stocks surely began to ran out before orderly production could start again. (The same occurred to other Japanese manufacturers at the same period, see for example the shortage of shutters for the Olympus Six.) All the front-cell focusing Semi Pearl observed so far have a Hexar Ser.1 7.5cm f/4.5 lens. Some have an older lens with chrome bezel and four-digit number, and a Rokuoh-sha Apus shutter; Examples pictured in , item 1384 (four-digit number probable but unconfirmed), in Miyazaki, p.128 (four digits), and in Yamawaki, p.110 of no.4 (four digits). these parts were surely taken from old stocks. The others have a black lens bezel and the second shutter plate design; one has a Konishiroku Apus (see above), Example pictured in , p.545. and another has a Konishiroku Durax and lens no.311xx. Example pictured in Yamawaki, p.110 of no.4. Towards regular production again Further cosmetic changes After this difficult transition period, it seems that the production of the Semi Pearl reached a regular pace. Several cosmetic changes were introduced to the cameras, typical of the regular postwar Semi Pearl. A new type of artificial leather covering was adopted, This is mentioned in Tanaka, p.60 of no.8. with slightly different markings: the SEMI PEARL embossing at the front leather received a hexagonal instead of a rectangular frame, and the KONISHIROKU embossing on the back was inscribed in smaller letters inside a hexagon, with no MADE IN JAPAN mention. The shutter plate was modified once again, and the third shutter plate design has a direct stamping of the Durax name and aperture scale, replacing the small screwed plates. Examples with Durax and Hexar Ser.1 pictured in Doru's blog http://dorus.blog21.fc2.com/blog-entry-154.html, and observed in online auctions. The Apus shutter was abandoned, and its production was probably not resumed after 1945. After some time, the lens name "Hexar Ser.1" was simplified to "Hexar" — the transition occurred somewhere in the 35xxx to 38xxx serial range. The last observed Hexar Ser.1 7.5cm f/4.5 has no.35895, and the first observed Hexar 7.5cm f/4.5 has no.38527. One example with two red windows and the short "Hexar" lens name is pictured in this page, and another has been observed in an online auction. The examples pictured in , item 1157 (where it is dated 1943), and in Miyazaki, p.128, might have similar features. The introduction of lens coating might have occurred some time afterwards, but this is unconfirmed. None of the civilian Japanese cameras made before 1945 has a coated lens. The camera with Hexar f/4.5 lens pictured in this page at Junk Binbō reportedly has an uncoated lens. The camera with Hexar f/4.5 lens no.38527 pictured in this page seems to have lens coating, and the feature is mentioned in the column in December 1949, p.36. The exact date of the transition is unclear. Some examples from that period, such as that pictured above, have a diamond-shaped CPO logo engraved in black in the standing leg. Examples pictured in this page, and observed in online auctions. This stands for Central Purchasing Office and means that the camera was intended for sale at an American military Post Exchange facility. Of course, this is a definitive proof that the camera was sold after 1945. Revival of the Optor lens It seems that there was a brief attempt at reviving the production of the Optor f/4.5 lenses, and a few such lenses are found with Konishiroku markings on a black bezel. The license contracts with Asahi Kōgaku were surely invalid by that time, and these new Optor lenses were surely assembled by Konishiroku itself. The serial number was perhaps reset at 1000: at least three such lenses are known with a four-digit number in the 1xxx range, on cameras with the second or third type of shutter plate. Example pictured in this page, example pictured in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.18 (where it is wrongly dated 1943), and example observed in an online auction. The only other Konishiroku Optor observed so far has no.60267; this might correspond to a very late batch whose numbers were taken on the Hexar sequence, but the details are completely unknown. Last model with single red window The last Semi Pearl have a single red window in the back, near the bottom, protected by a cover horizontally sliding under a metal plate. (The back is therefore identical to that of the Pearl I.) This version is pictured in the book Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata by Akiyama Seiji, published in August 1948 — it was thus already in existence by that time. Akiyama, Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata, p.13. Tanaka, p.109 of no.4, says that the red windows were modified before the end of the war, but this is certainly wrong. The Semi Pearl with a single red window are not uncommon today, and were produced for a number of months, certainly until the release of the Pearl I in late 1949 or early 1950. The last known mention of the Semi Pearl is in the December 1949 issue of , on Japanese cameras. December 1949, pp.36–7. This document gives the price category as ¥10,000–15,000, much higher than in 1946 because of the high inflation in late 1940s Japan. The production was completely stabilized by the time and no minor variation is visible, except for the distance scale in metres or feet, or the occasional MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN marking on the front leather, opposite the name. Examples pictured in Kuramoto Chokusō http://c-d-s.co.jp/blog/archives/227, in M's Photographic Gear http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~mztn/camera1/c011.html, in Kenzou's Flickr gallery http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenzou/498757450/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenzou/498757442/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenzou/498757480/, in Neco's camera collection http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j1220.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j122a.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j122b.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j1221.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j1221a.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j1221b.html http://neco.aki.gs/neco99/neco30/00/sakura/j1221c.html, and observed in online auctions. Nearly all the examples have the Durax and Hexar f/4.5, and lens numbers are known from 43xxx to 62xxx, in a sequence which is perhaps shared with other Hexar lenses. The only exception confirmed so far is a camera with a Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lens, described below. The camera pictured in this page at Kuramoto Chokusō is complete with the original presentation box and cardboard packaging, both stamped ROKUOH–SHA, the Japanese user manual (showing an outdated picture of a silver model), the depth-of-field card and even the ¥10,500 price tag. (The price definitely indicates that the camera was sold closer to 1949 than to 1946.) Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lens Isolated examples of the Semi Pearl are found with a Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lens. At least three examples have been observed so far. All have Rokuoh-sha markings on a chrome bezel, giving a typical 1930s aspect, but they were surely assembled after 1945. The camera pictured below is clearly a composite, with lens no.4154 mounted on a Compur-Rapid shutter (T, B, 1–500). The existence of the same lens and shutter combination is independently reported in Tanaka, p.60 of no.8. The body itself was perhaps made during the war. Its leather covering has the rectangular SEMI PEARL embossing at the front and the ROKUOH–SHA embossing on the back, without MADE IN JAPAN. The lens and shutter unit might come from a military camera, perhaps for aerial photography: the Compur-Rapid has two holes on the rim, which might correspond to an attachment for some external lever to control the shutter speeds from outside the casing of an aerial camera. The aperture scale goes all the way from 3.8 to 32, presumably indicating that the lens and shutter were attached together from the start. The shutter is smaller than the Durax, and the position of the controls are different, making the body release inoperative. Another camera has lens no.4017 on a Durax shutter. Example pictured in Yokogawa, p.38 of no.10. It is probably the same camera that was sold as lot no.657 of Westlicht Photographica auction no.6 (November 6, 2004). It has the late type of shutter plate, with the aperture scale directly printed at the bottom, from 4.5 to 22. The graduation for f/3.8 was engraved by hand, next to 4.5. The body has the hexagonal SEMI PEARL embossing and a KONISHIROKU embossing on the back, and was made after 1945. (The number of red windows is unknown.) The third camera is very similar, and is confirmed to have a single red window on the back. Example offered for sale by a Japanese dealer. The lens number is perhaps 390x. Its aperture scale has no f/3.8 position at all. It seems obvious that the f/3.8 Semi Pearl was not an official version sold by Konishiroku. It is likely that the Hexar Ser.II f/3.8 lenses were made for a different purpose in the late 1930s or early 1940s, perhaps in association with the Compur-Rapid shutter on some military camera. A small stock of these was perhaps discovered after 1945, and mounted on a handful of Semi Pearl bodies. This might have occurred within the Konishiroku factory, perhaps as a private initiative by some worker. Yahō accessory rangefinder The Yahō The name has been observed in katakana script only, and the Roman spelling used by the maker is unknown. (ヤホー) is an accessory rangefinder for the Semi Pearl, made by an unknown manufacturer (not Konishiroku) and sold by the distributor Miyama Shōkai. Sold by Miyama Shōkai: Noma, p.65. It consists of a sort of rifle scope, attached to the top plate on the rear, to the viewfinder's left, and connected to the lens rim at the front by an arm and push-on ring. It is said that the optics contain a ground glass with split-image device, Noma, p.65. but the precise details are unknown. Obviously, the device must be dismantled before closing the camera. The overall configuration is made possible by the Semi Pearl's unit-focusing helical, and cannot be adapted for ordinary front-cell focusing folding cameras. Long before the Yahō, a similar device was supplied as a standard equipment on the Enolde, a 6×9cm folding camera released in 1930 by Rodenstock; few other examples of this arrangement are known. The device was reportedly released in 1949, and still appears (as the Yahō A) in the 1951 camera annual by , published in October 1950. camera annual 1951, p.49. Notes Sources and further reading Original documents * Akiyama Seiji (秋山青磁). Semi Pāru no jōzu na tsukaikata (セミパールの上手な使い方, How to use the Semi Pearl skillfully). Tokyo: Genkōsha, 1948. * Type 3, sections 3B and 6B. * Item 67. * Type 3, sections 3B and 6B. * special issue Kamera Nenkan 1951-nenban (カメラ年鑑1951年版, Camera annual, 1951 edition). October 1950. "Shuyō kokusan kamera akusesarī" (主要国産カメラアクセサリー, Main Japanese camera accessories). P.49. * December 1949. "Ōru kokusan kamera" (オール国産カメラ, All of Japanese cameras). Pp.34–41. Recent sources * Items 169 and 675. (See also the advertisement for item 168.) * Konika-Minoruta-ten (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005. * Table of postwar Konishiroku and Konica cameras, p.78. * Pp.54, 60 and 65. * P.545. * Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年：コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X. Pp.10, 13, 128 and 183. * Noma Toshio (野間俊夫). Kyorikei-tsuki kamera no henpo (距離計付きカメラの変遷, Evolution of rangefinder cameras). Gendai Kamera Shinsho (現代カメラ新書) 65. Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1979. No ISBN number. Pp.64–5. (On the Yahō rangefinder.) * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.18. * Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "'Anbako' kara 'ōtofōkasu' he: kamera no hensen to tomo ni ayunda 114-nen" (「暗函」から「オートフォーカス」へ・カメラの変遷と共に歩んだ114年, From 'camera obscura' to 'autofocus': 114 years of camera evolution). Pp.8–13. * Items 1155–7 and 1384. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Konica history 5. Shōwa 8-nen – 20-nen" (Konica history 5. 昭和8年–20年. From Shōwa year 8 1933 to Shōwa year 20 1945). Pp.40–4. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Nihon no supuringu-kamera: Konishiroku" (日本のスプリングカメラ Konishiroku, The spring cameras of Japan: Konishiroku). Pp.58–61. * Yamawaki Kunio (山脇邦男). "Senzen kokusan taishū kamera no genten: Pearl, Semi Pearl" (戦前国産大衆カメラの原点・パール・セミパール, The Pearl and Semi Pearl, origin of the prewar Japanese popular cameras). Pp.108–10. * Yokogawa Takashi (横川孝). "F3.8 tsuki no Semi Pāru shisakuki ni tsuite" (F3.8付きのセミパール試作機について, On the experimental Semi Pearl with f/3.8 lens). P.38. Links In English: * Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.II f/3.8), lot no.657 of auction no.6 (November 6, 2004) by Westlicht Photographica Auction In Japanese: * Pages of Neco's camera collection: ** Semi Pearl (silver, Apus, Optor f/4.5, Rokuoh-sha markings), with other pictures here and here ** Semi Pearl (silver, Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, Rokuoh-sha markings), with other pictures here and here ** Black models with Konishiroku markings: *** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, two red windows) *** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar f/4.5, in metres, single red window), with other pictures here and here *** Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar f/4.5, in feet, single red window), with other pictures here (some are mismatched), here and here * Semi Pearl (silver, Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, Rokuoh-sha markings) in Ranzōsha's camera pages * Semi Pearl (silver, Apus, Optor f/4.5) and Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar f/4.5, Konishiroku markings) in a page of the AJCC website * Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar Ser.1 f/4.5, Konishiroku markings) with sample pictures at Doru's blog * Semi Pearl (Durax, Hexar f/4.5) in various posts http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-630.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-631.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-635.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-643.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-653.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-699.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-743.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-921.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-999.html http://junkcamera.blog9.fc2.com/blog-entry-1207.html of the Junk Binbō blog * Semi Pearl (single red window) at Kuramoto Chokusō * Semi Pearl (single red window) at M's Photographic Gear * Semi Pearl (single red window) pictured here, here and here in the Flickr gallery of Kenzou * Semi Pearl (non original rangefinder) within a Konica page at Sarusuberi Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder folding Category: Konica Category: S Pearl, Semi Category: 1938